The Hat & The Globe
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 08:52PM The Story of The Hat:
We needed to buy Piper a new hat. And indeed, after minimal searching, we found a rather fine specimen. A lovely green elf-like hat with a wonderful tiger emblem on the front and a pompom on the top to boot. She loved it. And for four dollars, we had no reason to hesitate, so we bought it straight away.
Task complete.
But I quickly noticed how Piper would strut to school proudly in her new hat only to pull it roughly off her head befor entering the school doors. Each day, she donned her new hat with enthusiasm, then ripped it off her head, stuffing it into her pocket before anyone could notice.
Finally, after several days of this charade, I asked her why she did such a foolish thing.
“I am afraid the other kids will make fun of me,” was all she said.
Heart broken, I had a long talk with her about what really mattered here. With full confidence, I told her, “Piper, I am sure the other kids will love your hat. But still, there may be one or two kids who don’t like the color or the shape or the tiger or the pompom. But be that as it may, the only thing that matters here is if YOU like your hat! Because honey, you will never be able to please everyone, so it is more important to please yourself! “
Trusting me as the all knowing and powerful adult, the next day she walked through those school doors with the green elf-like hat, pompom and all, securely resting upon her head.
Within minutes, her teacher proclaimed what a fabulous hat she had on and oh, how she wished she had a hat exactly like that for herself. All of the other kids agreed, that indeed, it was a mighty fine hat!
From that day on, Piper wore her hat with pride and marched right through those school doors without nary a second thought at all. And naturally (as to be expected), I proudly patted myself on the back for being the ever wise mother, the sage old mama who correctly guided her four year old daughter down the path of self fulfillment and righteousness, la di da da, broo ha ha, blah blah blah and so on and so on.
The Story of The Globe:
I recently had my five year anniversary at work. And as is customary at my company with such major milestones, I was given a catalog of items from which I could choose a lovely gift from the myriad of unique items offered. On the day of my announcement, several colleges of mine inquired as to what I would be choosing for my very special gift.
Innocently enough, I told them the truth.
I was considering the globe.
“THE GLOBE!”
Each of them had their own opinion as to why this choice of a globe was inferior to all the other choices offered to me. It was useless, unnecessary, unworthy and so it went on. Even my husband wondered where in carnation would be put such a globe, and why in the world would we ever want one to begin with.
Although no one outright said anything of the sort, all I heard was, “Dork. Weirdo. Geek. Freak.”
So in the end, I proceeded to order for myself the black Fossil satchel handbag with soft leather trimming instead of the globe.
Several weeks later, I walked into my co-worker’s office and in my typical fashion, plopped myself in front of the world map on his wall. After contemplating the world map for a few moments, I said something rather nonchalant like, “Gee, I never realized New Guinea was so close to Australia.” To which my co-worker responded something along the lines of, “My God! You are always so obsessed with that map. Honestly, I don’t understand why you don’t just get one of your own!”
The Moral of The Hat & The Globe:
No matter how wise and loving of a mother to a four year old you may be, it does not mean you have conquered the insecure and doubtful four year old who still resides inside you.
Piper gallantly wears her elf-like green hat to school each day.
The black Fossil handbag collects another layer of dust in our hall closet each day.
doubt, insecurity in The Examined Life, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda 
